Make me believe
by Brightstar94
Summary: Akane is feeling sad because of her lack of cooking ability, but this time Ranma has got an idea to help her out...


Hi everyone! This is the 2nd story I upload in this site; I came up with something longer this time. I hope you enjoy it, please review!

P.s. any grammatical correction would be appreciated since English is not my native language (:

**Disclaimer**: _All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi_.

"Hey Ranma, come here for a minute, would you?" she called in her sweetest voice.

The young martial artist was lying on the pavement, watching some tv. He knew even too well the kind of tone she had used and a slight fear started creeping into his stomach. *I really hope it's not what I'm thinking...*

He opened the kitchen door and he glanced at his fiancée; she had just prepared something to eat and she was wearing a plain yellow apron, stained with an unidentified substance that was probably one of the ingredients... He was hoping it was edible. She looked so pretty…But he couldn't say the same about the dish. Akane had a confident smile on her face - or better, it _seemed_ confident but he knew it was only an attempt of hiding her tension.

"So here I am, what's the matter?" he said, trying to look nonchalant.

"Well, I've just prepared some _donburi_ and I was wondering if you could tell me what you think about it!"

"Oh that's so kind of you, really, but I've realised I've been eating way too much these past days, ya know I'm trying to avoid eating between meals and..."

"Come on, this is the weakest excuse you've ever used!" she replied in an irritated tone; she was trying not to overreact, but that was still hard for her, especially in times like those...

"Just try a piece, please!" she begged, in a softer tone this time; she looked so cute and hopeful that he had not the heart to deceive her. She had a strange power over him, he could beat great martial artists, demons, monsters, but a look of her lovely eyes was enough to break his defence in no time.

*C'mon man, you've done that a thousand times, you can make it! Don't be coward! It's just food and nothing more!* he thought, clenching his fists. "Ok you win, but I'll eat just a little piece; I wanna live to see tomorrow!" he grinned cockily.

"We've got Mr Nice Guy here! Sounds awesome!" she said sarcastically, trying to hide the satisfaction she was feeling. She turned around to take the chopsticks and smiled unseen.

Ranma grabbed the sticks and the bowl, then he picked up a little piece of chicken (or what _seemed_ to be chicken) with a "I'm-about-to-mount-the-scaffold" kind of expression on his face. He put it into his mouth and regretted it a second after: as he had supposed, the food tasted awful! Swallowing it felt like suffocating, but in the end he accomplished the big deed. His look was practically unequivocal and Akane felt that familiar sense of defeat gripping her stomach. She had failed once again.

"Can you please tell me what the heck did you put in this?" a semi-dead Ranma asked.

"Nothing special, just some chicken, vinegar, milk, pepper, sesame oil, a weird sauce that had a nice colour…I can't get where I went wrong!" she answered in a disconsolate tone. She was about to burst into tears, but she seemed to be resisting at the moment. She didn't like crying, it made her feel weak and stupid, but she was feeling so helpless; cooking was a challenge she didn't manage to win.

"Gosh Akane, those ingredients don't have anything to do with donburi! You just did a huge mess!"

"I know, I'm hopeless! I'll never…I'll never get to be a good cook!" she said, untying the laces of her apron with angry movements of her hands. "I'd better give up before poisoning someone… Well, see you later." Her cold tone froze his blood; he was feeling guilty and he wanted to apologise, but a tiny voice in his mind told him she needed some time alone.

*I'll go talk to her later*.

….

Akane closed her room's door behind her back and flopped down on her bed.

She had to admit it was a wonderful period for her, leaving apart her cooking problems.

Things between Ranma and her had started to go pretty well after the adventure in Jusenkyo and the failed wedding. After the initial period of extreme embarrassment, they had gradually improved their way of acting towards each other. He was trying not to tease her too much, she was trying not to overreact when he did. Moreover, they had learned to be more sincere to themselves and to the other. They had started this new phase of their relationship, more mature in a way, but still fresh, exciting, hectic and stronger than ever. They had started building something together, putting the same amount of efforts in it. And then…He had even admitted the words he had said in Jusenkyo were true. He loved her. He _truly_ loved her. She had felt the happiest girl on earth that day, everything was finally set in the right place.

The girl who used to hate boys had finally found the perfect boy for her…

Even their suitors had naturally decreased their pressure (well, maybe "naturally" was not the perfect word, but still…). They hadn't lost the habit of acting like a bunch of crazy horses most of the time, but she knew life would be boring without them. Her jealousy towards the other "fiancées" was still there, but she had finally figured out Ranma loved her and no one else. Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi were nothing but friends to him…But they could cook, damn! She felt so uncomfortable and inadequate. All the girls of her age were perfectly able to cook tasty delicacies…and she was not. What did they have that she didn't have? Cooking was a fight to her. And she had to win. But she didn't seem to have the skills to do that. No matter how hard she tried, her dishes tasted always the same. She losing hope. A tear, just _one, _small tear, streamed down her face.

*I'd better go now, I wanna know how she is…I really hope she's not crying* Ranma thought to himself. He had an idea in mind and he wanted to know what she'd thought about that. And obviously, he wanted to comfort her. He knew she'd never ask for that, she liked acting tough…But he also knew she needed it sometimes.

*My lovely tomboy… She'll always be the same!* he shook his head and smiled tenderly, approaching Akane's door.

-Tok tok- "Hey 'kane! May I come in?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure" she answered. She was lying on her bed, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. When he opened the door and started walking towards her, she felt a huge need of an embrace.

He sat on her bed, observing her face to decipher her expression.

"Are you alright? You're not mad at me, are you?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"No, I'm not, don't you worry" she made a little smile. She loved that babyish look he had on his face.

"I'm just feeling….you know, incapable" she continued, turning her head not to sustain his glance.

"C'mon Akane! You're not incapable! You've got a lot of other qualities. You're strong, beautiful, kind, you're good at school… Cooking is not your strong point but hey, who cares in the end. And then…You have me! How could you feel sad with a cool fiancé like me?" he said with a cocky grin; he was trying to make her laugh.. and he managed to. But that laugh sounded wrong and fake to his ears.

"You don't have to be sad about this… I love you anyways, I don't care if you're not a good cook!" he said, holding her tight. She felt warm and safe and complete; his arms were for sure her favourite spot in the world.

"However", he added, "since cooking is so important to you, I've got something in mind! You just have to tell me what you think about it."

"Uhmm, okay, go ahead."

"I could teach you how to cook." He proposed, smiling. "Isn't it a good idea?"

"What? You'd be my teacher? Are you serious?" she replied, astonished.

"Of course! I'm not a chef but I'm pretty good. At least I can teach you the basis. Plus I noticed Kasumi is not the right teacher for you: she's too kind to tell you that your food is disgusting!" he said with a little laugh. He had told her he loved her, but he'd never give up teasing her. That was a part of their very essence.

"Oh well if you're talking about insensitivity and unkindness, you'd be a perfect teacher for sure!" she spoke up, but then she realised it was not a bad idea after all. Cooking lessons with Ranma…It could be even funny. Maybe.

"Do you have a better idea?" he asked.

"Now that I think about it, I guess it could be fine. Thank you! And thank you for comforting me, too." She smiled widely and pulled her face up to his to kiss him.

::::::::

The day after, Akane woke up at 8 o'clock even though it was Saturday. She was looking forward to her first lesson, but his teacher was not in the same enthusiastic mood: in fact, he was still sleeping next to her.

She called his name softly, since she didn't want to irritate him; she needed him to be well-disposed that morning.

"Ranma…It's time to wake up!"

Nothing. He continued sleeping with a blissful expression on his face. It was a pity waking him up, but she couldn't wait more.

"Ranma, wake up please!" she repeated louder.  
"Mmmm five more minutes…'t was a good dream…" he murmured in an extremely sleepy voice.

"I'm sorry but I need you to get up now. Did you forget about our lesson?" she asked eagerly.

"I didn't forget about it, but I'm sure I didn't promise to wake up at dawn to start our lesson!" he clarified, slightly annoyed. At least he had opened his eyes! She was on the right track.

"It's not dawn, it's 8 o'clock! Please Ranma…I really want to start it now…" she said, pulling her body up to his and looking at him with piercing eyes. Her forefinger was drawing small circles on his chest. She was _extremely_ hard to resist.

"Hey, it's not fair! You can't seduce me like that!"

"Oh yes I can!" she said, sticking out her tongue.

"So can I, then!" he rolled onto his side and laid on her, blocking her hands next to her head. Her cheeks got red and her eyes were watery.

"I'm sure it's ok for you if I stay here five more minutes…Am I right?" he whispered in her ear with the most seducing tone he was capable of. He buried his face in the sensitive area between her neck and shoulder, skimming his lips over her soft skin and sending goosebumps down her spine.

She somehow changed her mind and decided that postponing the lesson by some minutes wasn't a big deal after all.

"You naughty boy! Ok you won, but if you're not in the kitchen in five minutes, I swear I'll knock you out of bed!"

He burst out laughing and let her go; then he gave her a quick peck on the lips before resting his head on the pillow once again. He closed his eyes and heard the door shut. *You started it!* he thought, grinning.

…

Ten minutes later, the two met downstairs and Ranma sat down to have breakfast, after the usual morning fight with his father; Akane was too eager to "waste time eating" but he was really hungry, so he explained: "A famous Japanese chef once said: 'A good cook always has a lavish meal before cooking'". He invented it at the moment, but she seemed to believe him and he laughed up his sleeve at her naïveté. While they were eating, Akane announced the big news to the family: "Today's a big day! I'll take my first cooking lesson with Ranma as my teacher!" she said enthusiastically. Nabiki raised an eyebrow and commented: "Good job sis', I bet you convinced him using your seduction techniques.." "Nabiki!" the dark-haired girl replied, embarrassed. "What I do with Ranma is not your business!" "Oh, so you admit you two actually did something together!" she smirked. Ranma and Akane were getting redder and redder, when Soun, Genma and even Kasumi joined the burning conversation. "Ranma, you paid attention, didn't you?" Soun observed, with a concerned look in his dark eyes. "Yes, you're right dad, they're still so young" Kasumi added. "I knew my boy had a way with women! He's my son after all!" Genma said, and then burst out laughing. "I have to take some pictures, I'm sure they'll yield a tidy sum!" Nabiki piled it on. Ranma and Akane stood up fast and literally ran away from them, heading to the kitchen. "They never change, uh? Always butting in.." the pig-tailed boy said, still embarrassed. "Yeah, we just have to deal with it, I guess.. Anyways, it's cooking time now!" she smiled and took two aprons from a shelf. Ranma didn't want to wear it at first, he knew it didn't look manly at all, but then he realised his lovely fiancée would stain his shirt for sure, so he put it on. "These plain aprons are so boring…I'd like to wear one with something like 'Thank the cook' written on it!" Akane observed. "You meant 'Thank the cook for _poisoning_ you', right?" he grinned, amused. "You're always SO kind!" "On my apron, I would write 'I'm not the best cook, but I'm the coolest'! Whatcha think about that?" "I think that if you ego keeps growing like this, we'll have to add a place at our dining table!" she replied sharply, lifting her eyes. "Stop boasting around now!" she added, "Let's start up! I'm ready." She looked so determined that Ranma couldn't help but smile. "Fine. Let's start with something simple… A salad maybe?" he asked. "Hey, I know how to prepare a salad!" she exclaimed, offended. "I wouldn't bet on that! Plus you promised you'd be a good pupil." "Umphf, ok… I have to cut vegetables now, right?" "Yes, but you have to wash them first!" Akane completed the first _task_ with an extremely concentrated look on her face, then started cutting the vegetables, trying not to spread the pieces all around the kitchen. "I'm done! I'll season it now. Soy sauce is ok, right?" the short-haired girl asked, grabbing a dark bottle with her right hand. "Yes, of c…Hey wait a sec! That's not soy sauce, it's washing-up liquid!" he exclaimed, widening his blue eyes. She groaned. "I was so absorbed I didn't even read the label..." After some other little accidents, the salad was ready. Then, Ranma took one of Kasumi's cookbooks from a shelf and gave it to Akane, claiming that it would be a good help for her, since she only had to follow the directions. He chose _Dorayaki _on the index and opened the book at the right page. "Let's try out a dessert this time, ok?" "Sounds good!" "Just do what it's written there, nothing more, nothing less. I'll be here to help" he said, kindly. He was trying to limit his assistance so that she would feel even prouder of herself if the food turned out tasty.

Akane collected all the ingredients attentively, then put some sugar and eggs in a bowl and started blending with all her forces.

"Slow down that arm, Akane! You're not fighting." Her _teacher_ told her off.

"But it says 'Mix energetically'! I'm just following the recipe!"

"The recipe was probably written by someone less tomboyish than you!"

She sent him a fulminating glance, narrowing her angry eyes. She looked so fiery and strong that she seemed like a warrior princess. She opened her mouth to say something, surely an insult, but he stopped her.

"You're so beautiful" he said, smiling wide and her irritation vanished instantly, replaced with tenderness. His voice melted her heart and his eyes were saying she was the most wonderful creature on earth. He was looking at her as if she was the centre of his universe and she still couldn't believe he was all for her.

He approached her to kiss her gently on the lips, holding her chin with his hand.

"Hey, you're distracting me" she said, frowning and faking an annoyed expression.

"I can do it, I'm the teacher!" he grinned. "Anyway, I think you're doing well. I'm sure you'll become a good cook soon!" he reassured her, with an encouraging gaze.

"You say? I really hope so! Thanks for believing in me" she replied, smiling her sweetest smile.

"I'll always believe in you! And pick you up when you get down" he promised, squeezing her hands.

She was feeling completely happy in that moment. He was teaching her not only how to cook, but also how to believe in herself. She was seeing herself through his eyes and she liked that; She felt so much gratitude for him.

"I love you" she pleaded, hugging him tightly.

"Love you too". They stayed still for a while, just enjoying the other's closeness. Then, he broke the silence: "Ok, let's go back to our lesson now…Or they'll give us the Sappiest Couple of the Year Award!" he stuck out his tongue, causing her to laugh heartily.

After a good dose of mistakes, reproaches, mockeries and insults, the meal was eventually ready. After the salad and the dorayakis, she had also prepared some sushi. It was the moment of truth; they took a dish each ad grabbed some chopsticks.

"I'll count 1,2,3 and then we taste it, 'kay?" the pigtailed boy demanded.

"Alright, I'm ready!" Akane replied firmly, as if she was about to start a fight.

"1…2…3!" They put a piece of food in their mouth at the same moment, chewed for a few seconds and then looked at each other in amazement.

"IT'S GOOD!" they cried out in unison; he took her in his arms and swivelled round fast.

"You did it!"

"I still can't believe it!" she kissed him to thank him once again, then took him by the hand

and started running to the dining room. She was looking forward to hearing the others' opinions about her cooking. Her father and Genma were playing shoji as usual and they both turned their heads in surprise when she entered the room like a tornado.

"Daddy, I made it! You have to taste my dishes, they're good I swear!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

"She's right, I confirm you won't get poisoned this time" Ranma added. His comment assured

Soun, who looked up at them and took a dorayaki from the big plate; it was the only dish they hadn't tasted yet. The atmosphere was saturated with suspense and Akane savoured that new feeling of satisfaction with a confident smile on her face. She was dying to know his dad's opinion and she was already imagining herself cooking delightful dainties with Kasumi; everybody would be so happy to taste her food and she wouldn't have to see scared faces or hear weak excuses anymore.

Soun, for his part, took a bite of dorayaki; he couldn't believe that his beloved daughter had eventually managed to prepare something that actually tasted…tasted…AWFUL!

His face assumed a greenish shade while he was doing his best to swallow the content of his mouth instead of spitting it all over the table. He somehow managed to do it, then forcing a smile, he said "It's…delicious" and fell heavily to the ground.

"Oh gosh! Kasumi, come here! Dad's just passed out!" Akane yelled, quite frightened and confused. *I can't understand how it happened! The food was good when we tasted it…*

While the sweet Kasumi was padding Soun's face with some cold water, Ranma's brain started working hard to find a reason for what had just happened. He felt very sorry for Akane and also, he was slightly irritated for having failed as a teacher.

*She was so happy…I can't get where we went wrong* His confused expression was the reflection of hers. But suddenly, a suspicion began to creep into Akane's mind:

"Ranma?" she called, trying to hide her rising anger, but failing miserably.

"What?" he didn't like her tone and he knew something bad was going to happen to him.

"The food that dad has just eaten is the only one we didn't taste, right?"

"Yes, it is.." he replied cautiously.

"And it's also the one I was preparing when you cut out our lesson to kiss me, RIGHT?"

"Uhm…it could be, I'm not so sure actually…" he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Don't play dumb, Ranma! It's all your fault as usual, you distracted me and I put some weird ingredient in the paste! You idiot!"

"Hey wait a sec, I cheered you up, I tried to help you cook a decent meal for once and this is what I get? You could show some gratitude at least!"

"Shut up, you jerk! You ruined everything just for a stupid kiss!"

"It seemed you was enjoying it actually! And it's not my fault if you're a disaster!"

"Who's a disaster? Try to repeat it if you have the guts!"

"**You're a disaster**! And you're so uncute!"

…

Their voices slowly died away as Akane ran towards the dojo to chase her fiancé who was skilfully avoiding her hits, increasing her anger. Kasumi and Nabiki were watching the typical scene from the patio, enjoying the sunlight.  
"They make such a good couple, don't they?" the older sister said with a dreamy gaze.

"Absolutely!" Nabiki replied, a sly grin on her face. *Some things never change*.


End file.
